This handy pocket guide reviews the eight basic systems archetypes, from “Drifting Goals” all the way to “Tragedy of the Commons.” For each archetype, this guide provides a causal loop template; a general description of how the structure works, and brief, bulleted tips for detecting and managing the unique dynamics that the archetype generates.

This article argues that the distinctions we make in peacebuilding masks a messier, highly interdependent reality that we need to honestly engage with. We argue for a more holistic, systems view, and present three case studies of explicitly systemic peacebuilding strategies from Myanmar and Thailand. Reflection on these case studies offers insights for systemic theories of change, including engaging multiple parts of the system in parallel, rewiring relationships within the system, balancing adaptation and control, and building trust with donors to balance risk.

A significant sub-system within the system relates to tensions between different religious and/or ethnic communities resulting from a lack of trust and positive interaction.

There are four important feedback loops which constitute this sub system. The first (R10) , is characterized by the fact that hate speech against Muslims (that employs stereotypes of Muslims as violent) reinforces the perception among non-Muslims that Islam is an inherently violent or aggressive religion. This perception in turn leads people to interpret social or inter-personal conflicts or crimes as religious conflicts (since they assume that Muslims are more likely to be aggressors and/or Islam to be incompatible with other religions). This contributes to the perception that religious conflict is rife, that Islam per se is the cause of the conflicts and/or that non-Muslims are at risk from attack by Muslims, which often results in hate speech against Muslims…

People living and working on complex systems, which is pretty much all of us, find ourselves baffled and inspired in equal measures by their unpredictable behavior. Complex systems, be they storm systems (environmental), the endocrine system (biological), or the dancefloor at your office Christmas party (social), can be impossible to predict, let alone control. As thinkers such as Easterly and Taleb argue, we should treat with great scepticism anyone who tells you that they can.